Designing ergonomic interventions for emergency medical services workers—part III: Bed to stairchair transfers

Lavender, Steven A.; Conrad, Kendon J.; Reichelt, Paul A.; Kohok, Aniruddha K.; Gacki-Smith, Jessica

doi:10.1016/j.apergo.2006.08.002

Cited by 30 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…They recorded complex measurements of posture, spine angles, and measured loads to calculate forces utilized during each activity. 48,49 This participatory design process yielded such diverse ideas as new handles for backboards, foot straps on backboards to prevent patients from falling off while descending stairs, 52 frictionreducing slide boards for lateral transfers, 51 specialized lifting straps and rods to facilitate better patient lifting, 50 and even motorized stretchers with special tracks designed to control the descent down stairs without heavy lifting. 47 Other creative investigators are also contributing to the field of prehospital ergonomics.…”

Section: Host Factor Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Existing analyses have focused primarily on lifting and moving, [50][51][52] with some research on the ergonomics of activities inside the patient care compartment of an ambulance. 56,57,85 The physical environment within the patient compartment of an ambulance can compromise a provider's ability to safely deliver care.…”

Section: Physical Environment Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54] This work highlights the success that can be achieved when rigorous scientific testing is used to develop ergonomic equipment specifically designed to meet the challenges of providing patient care in the prehospital environment. Lavender et al first utilized focus groups of firefighters and identified high self-reported rates of musculoskeletal injuries, especially during tasks working directly with patients.…”

Section: Host Factor Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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EMS Provider and Patient Safety during Response and Transport: Proceedings of an Ambulance Safety Conference

Brice

Studnek

Bigham

et al. 2012

Prehospital Emergency Care

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The out-of-hospital setting is unique to health care and presents many challenges to providing safe, high-quality medical care in emergency situations. The challenges of the prehospital environment require thoughtful design of systems and processes of care. The unique challenges of ambulance safety may be met by analyzing systems and incorporating process improvements. The purposes of this paper are to 1) outline the nature of this problem, 2) introduce a framework for this discussion, 3) provide expert opinion from a two-day ambulance safety conference, and 4) propose a plan of action to address the safety issues identified in the literature and expert opinion at the conference. Utilizing the Haddon Matrix as a framework, we present the safety issues and proposed solutions for factors contributing to an injury event in the emergency medical services (EMS) transport environment: host, agent, physical environment, and social environment. Host refers to the person or persons at risk, in this case, the EMS personnel or the patient. The agent of injury refers to the energy exerted during the course of an injury, and may be modified to include unrestrained equipment that contributes to the injury. The physical environment refers to the characteristics of the setting in which the injury takes place, such as the roadway or the physical design of the ambulance. Finally, the social environment refers to the social, legal, and cultural norms and practices in the society, such as peer pressure and a culture that discourages the use of safety equipment.

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Section: Host Factor Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Physical Environment Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Host Factor Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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EMS Provider and Patient Safety during Response and Transport: Proceedings of an Ambulance Safety Conference

Brice

Studnek

Bigham

et al. 2012

Prehospital Emergency Care

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…FFs commonly perform intense physical activities involving a high load on the lumbar spine, such as fire suppression (FS), rescue operations, and emergency medical services (EMS). These activities include using heavy equipment, maintaining an improper posture in hazardous locations, carrying heavy equipment on the back, repeatedly pushing patients while transferring them, carrying patients on a stretcher, and bending their backs frequently [13–15]. Such physically demanding activities place a burden on the lumbar spine and cause degenerative lumbar diseases, such as FJD, which eventually lead to LBP among FFs [16–19].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparison of facet joint degeneration in firefighters and hospital office workers

Kim¹,

An²,

Kim³

et al. 2017

Ann of Occup and Environ Med

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BackgroundThere are few published studies on the relationship between occupational lumbar load and facet joint degeneration (FJD). This cross-sectional study was conducted to evaluate the effect of physical lumbar load on FJD by comparing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of firefighters (FFs) and hospital office workers (HOWs).MethodsWe randomly sampled 341 male FFs and 80 male HOWs by age stratification. A questionnaire and clinical examination, including MRI of the lumbar spine (T12-S1), were conducted. FJD was diagnosed and graded by using the classification of Pathria et al., and reclassified into two groups as follows: no FJD (grade 0) and FJD (grades 1, 2, and 3). The prevalence of FJD was analyzed according to occupational group.ResultsThe prevalence of FJD ranged from 31% (L1–L2) to 75% (L4–L5) in the FFs, and from 18% (L1–L2) to 69% (L4–L5) in the HOWs. After adjustment for age, body mass index, and frequency of physical exercise, the adjusted odds ratios (OR) for FJD in the FFs were significantly higher than those in the HOWs at all lumbar spinal levels, except for L3–L4 (L1–L2: OR, 2.644; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.317–5.310; L2–L3: OR, 2.285; 95% CI, 1.304–4.006; L4–L5: OR, 1.918; 95% CI, 1.037–3.544; L5–S1: OR, 1.811; 95% CI, 1.031–3.181).ConclusionThis study shows that FFs exhibit a greater likelihood of having FJD than HOWs after controlling for other risk factors of FJD. This suggests that the physical occupational demands of FFs affect their risk of developing FJD.

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“…[12][13][14][15] There has also been research on the physical demands associated specifically with emergency medical services (EMS) worker job tasks. [16][17][18][19] Many studies were also found on the effect of the spinal immobilization devices on patients' health. [6,11,[20][21][22] Some previous research discussed the comparison between a spinal board and other related devices.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Ergonomics intervention on an alternative design of a spinal board

Zadry

Susanti

Rahmayanti

2016

International Journal of Occupational Safety and Ergonomics

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A spinal board is the evacuation tool of first aid to help the injured spinal cord. The existing spinal board has several weaknesses, both in terms of user comfort and the effectiveness and efficiency of the evacuation process. This study designs an ergonomic spinal board using the quality function deployment approach. A preliminary survey was conducted through direct observation and interviews with volunteers from the Indonesian Red Cross. Data gathered were translated into a questionnaire and answered by 47 participants in West Sumatra. The results indicate that the selection of materials, the application of strap systems as well as the addition of features are very important in designing an ergonomic spinal board. The data were used in designing an ergonomic spinal board. The use of anthropometric data ensures that this product can accommodate safety and comfort when immobilized, as well as the flexibility and speed of the rescue evacuation process.

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Designing ergonomic interventions for emergency medical services workers—part III: Bed to stairchair transfers

Cited by 30 publications

References 14 publications

EMS Provider and Patient Safety during Response and Transport: Proceedings of an Ambulance Safety Conference

EMS Provider and Patient Safety during Response and Transport: Proceedings of an Ambulance Safety Conference

Comparison of facet joint degeneration in firefighters and hospital office workers

Ergonomics intervention on an alternative design of a spinal board

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